The common misconception is that a federal criminal appeal is a retrial; another chance to hear and study the facts again. Any federal criminal appeals lawyer would say that an appeal is so much different from a trial. What is a federal criminal appeal? It is a direct appeal; a legal proceeding to review the judgment of a court and to check for legal errors. Clients who seek such appeals do so to challenge the decision of a court, which is usually a district court. There is little "talking" if anything, as the proceedings would practically involve writing. The lawyer of the appealing party shall submit guidelines that point out alleged legal errors during the district court proceedings. The attorney of the other party will submit briefs to respond to the assertions of the first lawyer. There are no witnesses involved. Appellate courts are different district courts in so many aspects. They …show more content…
Someone asking for federal criminal appeals should be informed about the slowness of the process. Some clients get frustrated after a few months, but they have to understand that federal courts deal with lots of cases. Courts do not make hasty decisions, too. They consider legal claims, and that takes time, although the process today may be a bit accelerated by technology. For instance, several appellate courts now accept briefings submitted online. Even though judges can do legal research online, decision-making would still require them to thoroughly read and consider the arguments presented. As these people are human beings after all, the tasks they can handle are limited. Appellate judges may have assistants that handle paperwork and lawyers that handle usual cases. But the appeals courts still has to deal with hundreds of cases. Clients will have to be realistic and understanding. The slowness of actions is not because the judges are lazy, rather because they have to tackle previously filed appeals. Generally, cases run for a